No. 11 George Mason vs. No. 1 UConn

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Final score: 86-84 2006 East Regional Finals

The background: The George Mason Patriots, basically enjoying home court advantage just 20 miles from their campus, defeated Michigan State (75-65), North Carolina (65-60) and Wichita State (63-55) on their way to the East Regional Finals with the UConn Huskies. UConn, however, was seeded No. 1 in 2006 and went on to be a major contributor to the 2006 NBA Draft class: UConn was the third school in history to have four players drafted in Round 1 (Rudy Gay, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams, and Josh Boone) and the first school ever to have five players drafted in Round 2.

The game: In order for the Huskies to win this one, Rudy Gay had to have had a breakout game in tournament and point guard Marcus William had to keep his balance against Tony Skinn. Coach Jim Larranaga kept his team’s heart and tenacity high, telling his Patriots during timeouts that UConn didn’t even know which conference they were from. Late in the first half, George Mason trailed by 12 points; early in the second half, they were down by 9. However, George Mason came on strong, with six consecutive three-pointers, shooting 5-for-6 in overtime and going 37-34 in rebounds over UConn.